Lollipop Valentine Cards!

I wanted to show one of the projects we worked on in the past two sessions at school: LOLLIPOP-HOLDER VALENTINES!

I got the idea from a kit (made from fun foam) that I picked up at Hobby Lobby that had a whale, bumblebee, and a banana*. The only thing that had to be done to these creatures was to glue on the (included) googly eyes. There was only one package of those left, and I purchased them for class, but sorry: Gluing on googly eyes (even though I augmented the googly-eye options with a waaaaaay bigger selection, thankyouverymuch) is just NOT ENOUGH to be considered a project for my satisfaction.

It's a real simple concept: The kids drew SOMETHING, colored it, and stuck in a lolly.

I've been having the kids drawing and doodling for pretty much EVERY SESSION we've been together since the start of the program, so this is just ONE MORE OUTCROPPING of that focus. My goals for them are to be SO COMFORTABLE with drawing & doodling so doing a project like this is like the proverbial duck taking to the proverbial water: JUMP RIGHT IN; THE WATER'S FINE.And they did! Goal achieved! And the fun addition of the lollipop helped to achieve that goal, I ain't gonna lie...

I liked Lynda Barry's philosophy in her book Syllabus where she tells her students: "You can have as many pieces of CANDY that you want, but you have to DRAW them all." Think of what's accomplished in that statement...I kept this in mind while telling the kids: "You'll get a lollipop to put in each card you make." That's fair, right? :-)

Hope you have a Happy Valentine's Day!

*A kid asks, "So there's a whale, a bumblebee, and a banana?" I say, "That sounds like the beginning to a joke: 'A whale, a bumblebee, and a banana walk into a bar...'"